


Christmas in Orynth

by morganofthewildfire



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, hallmark, rowaelin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25641055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganofthewildfire/pseuds/morganofthewildfire
Summary: Renamed Christmas in Orynth, used to be Weddings, Gifts, and a Whole Lot of SnowWhen big city architect Aelin Galathynius returns home to Orynth for her cousin Aedion and best friend Lysandra’s Christmas time wedding, she’s forced to revisit old memories, and old faces she thought she hated but actually understands more than she knew.Loosely based on Hallmark channel’s The Christmas Cottage
Relationships: Aedion Ashryver/Lysandra, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn, Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre
Comments: 38
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi chapter fic so I hope it’s okay. I have no set updating schedule at the moment, but I have about four chapters written up already and I’m working on more.

“Passengers, we’re beginning our descent. We’ll be landing in about ten minutes.” The intercom crackled as the flight attendant completed her message and put the receiver down. Aelin leaned back into her seat and sighed, glancing out the window at the snow coated ground. She was flying back into Orynth, a place she hadn’t been in ten years, for her cousin Aedion and best friend Lysandra’s wedding. Aedion and Lysandra lived in Perranth full time because of Aedion’s job, but all three of them had grown up in Orynth and had many happy memories there. Well, mostly happy, but the more distressing ones were Aelin’s burden to carry, not her friends’. Those distressing memories were what caused her to flee to Rifthold for college and never look back. Until now. 

A few minutes later she felt a jolt as the plane landed on the runway, and waited for what felt like forever until they reached the gate and could exit into the airport. Right when she crossed the threshold of the door, she was hit with the scent of pine and snow, a common scent in Orynth, especially strong around Christmas, which was only a few days away. Lysandra had always dreamed of a Christmas wedding, getting married Christmas Eve and spending her wedding night in the Christmas cottage in the Staghorn mountains. The cottage technically belonged to Aelin’s family, but Lysandra had always been like a sister to Aelin and was basically going to be after the wedding. Aelin used to love Christmas with the same passion as Lysandra, believing in her family’s story that spending a night in the cabin with someone around Christmas would lead to true love. After all, that had happened for her parents, Aedion’s parents, and her great uncles, but she was less inclined to believe in it now. Lysandra still held hope for that magic, as well as Aedion, so they had asked her if they could use it for the night, seeing as it technically belonged to her now after the accident, and she had immediately said yes. Why deprive them of their happiness just because life had disillusioned her? 

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the hustle and bustle of the airport, the crowds forcing her to pay attention. It seemed that everyone in Orynth was eager to go somewhere else for the holidays, which was unsurprising due to the terrible blizzards that struck every year around Christmas. Aedion liked to say that the snow only increased the holiday spirit, and Aelin had heartily agreed at one point, but now the whole holiday seemed like a chore instead of something she was supposed to enjoy. But she immediately put away that attitude, eager to show a happy version of herself to her friends, even if it wasn’t necessarily the truth. She had not been truly happy in years, and the few chances she had recently had been squashed rapidly.

When she stepped out of the airport she hailed a taxi and dumped her luggage and herself in the backseat when one pulled up. 

“Terrasen Lodge, please,” she directed at the driver, indicating the hotel where the actual wedding was to take place. It was located close to the cottage, but farther down the mountain closer to civilization. As they drove, she looked out the window and admired the forests and mountains that made up the landscape of Orynth. Orynth was a large and busy city, filled with industry, but the true charm of it lied in the nature that surrounded the skyscrapers. Her parents used to work in one of those skyscrapers, as the heads of Erilea Architecture, and she was supposed to be up there with them after she finished college. At least that had been the plan. That future had collapsed after the crash that changed her life forever. Gods, it had been almost ten years since then but the memory of it still haunted her. Along with the more recent memory from college that held the same amount of personal trauma and derailment of her life plans. Aelin had become a mess and she didn’t know how to stop herself from spiraling even further. Maybe this wedding would help. Seeing all of her old friends again would certainly not hurt. She quickly changed her mind, though, when she actually thought about who would be there. On Lysandra's side, she knew all of the people that had been invited. Most of them were her old school friends, like Elide, Manon, and Nesryn. Lysandra’s uncle would probably be her only family member there, as she had been placed in his care when she was very young after her parents had left her. On Aedion’s side however, it was a bit more of a mystery. Obviously, she knew the family that would be coming, as they were her family as well. That group would just consist of Aedion’s parents, who happened to be her aunt and uncle, and her great uncles Orlon and Weylan. The real question was who of Aedion’s friends were invited. She assumed he would invite his old high school buddies Ren, Fenrys, Connall, maybe even Lorcan. Aelin knew that they all still hung out, even a decade later. A little over a decade actually, because they had all been a year older than her. The real wild card was Rowan Whitethorn. He and Aedion had been best friends in high school, but she knew Rowan had been off traveling after he dropped out of college, never really settling down in one spot, so she didn’t know if he would even come if he was invited. She prayed that he wouldn’t. They had absolutely hated each other in school, much to Aedion’s chagrin, taking every opportunity to antagonize each other. The rivalry had started right at the start of her freshman year and his sophomore year, for no apparent reason, but went strong the whole three years they were forced to interact. Aelin wasn’t ready to drag all of those negative feelings back up again, so she hoped that something stopped him from coming, whether it be the years since he and Aedion had really hung out or his own stubbornness at not wanting to interrupt his life to come to a stupid wedding. He was that type of person.

Since she was so busy praying to every god she knew to keep her from having to see him again, the hour drive to the hotel felt like five minutes. When they pulled up to the entrance she took a moment to admire the coziness of the place. It was fairly large, but the dark wood and warm lighting made it feel much more homey. It was the type of building her parents would design, the type of atmosphere that Erilea Architecture excelled in. She loved that style as well, but unfortunately her architecture firm she worked for in Rifthold, the Havilliard Development Group, specialized in a more modern approach.

Right as she stepped out of the taxi, after having paid and tipped generously, she heard a voice yelling her name. She turned and saw Lysandra sprinting out of the hotel at full speed, heading right for her.

“Aelin! I can’t believe you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting all day for your flight to land!” With that said, she hit Aelin hard in the arm, earning a yelp of pain. 

“What was that for?” Aelin questioned indignantly, confused by the contrast between her words and actions.

“I’m mad at you! I mean, obviously I’m thrilled to see you, but that just proves my point even more!” Aelin laughed as Lysandra waved her arms around before hugging her tightly. “I never see you, and that’s not acceptable if you’re still claiming best friend status.” Her words sounded serious but the tone was playful, both of them knowing they would never have another friend the same way they had each other.

“And maid of honor status,” Aelin said before winking at Lysandra. She laughed at Aelin’s remark but still looked expectantly at her, waiting for her to offer an explanation for why they saw each other only a few times a year. “I’m sorry Lys I really am, I want to visit you guys in Perranth more often but my work just keeps me so busy and you know I’m not the type of person to cheat my way out of my responsibilities.”

“I know, I know, it’s so frustrating that we have to have girls night over FaceTime.” They both laughed at that response, thinking back to the multiple occasions of them FaceTiming each other to drink and talk about guys, mainly about Aelin’s love life due to Lysandra’s engagement. But they always ended up talking about Lysandra anyway because Aelin’s guy drama was, admittedly, lacking. Lysandra began to tug on Aelin’s arm, pulling her inside and forcing her to drag her luggage in with one hand. 

Once they got inside, Aelin immediately felt much warmer. She knew it was December, but she still wasn’t prepared for how cold Orynth was compared to Rifthold. She glanced around the lobby, looking at the different seating areas surrounding the central check in desk. The decadent Christmas tree in the corner sent a pang of sadness through her so she distracted herself by looking for people she knew. One scan revealed there to be no one from the wedding yet, which wasn’t too strange seeing as she had to come early for maid of honor duties, but she was expecting at least some familiar faces.

“Lysandra, why isn’t anyone else here yet? Who did you pick out to be bridesmaids?” Lysandra stopped and turned back around from where she had been dragging Aelin.

“Oh Aedion and I decided to keep it a small wedding. So you’re the only bridesmaid and there’s only one groomsman,” with a wink she added “try not to look too hot and steal my spotlight.” Aelin chuckled at that idea.

“You’ll be the only one people are looking at, trust me.” And it was true. With Lysandra’s vivid green eyes, dark hair, and curvy body, she was definitely going to be keeping the attention of everyone in attendance. Lysandra tilted her head a little bit and frowned.

“Are you okay? Normal Aelin would definitely not let a chance to display her own hotness go amiss.” Aelin winced at the implication of her faded self confidence, a truth that she didn’t want to burden her best friend’s wedding, so she quickly deflected.

“I’m fine, Lys, don’t worry. I obviously know I’m going to look drop dead gorgeous but it’s your day, I’m not going to outshine you.” This time with a wink of her own she added “I’ll just focus on keeping the best man entertained.” When she noticed the wicked gleam in Lysandra’s eyes she immediately tensed. “What aren’t you telling me, Lys?”

Lysandra just grabbed Aelin’s luggage and traipsed down the hallway to the elevators, forcing Aelin to follow. She chased the brunette into the elevator and continued her interrogation.

“Lysandra Ennar, I swear to gods, whatever scheme you have brewing you better tell me!” Lysandra just smirked, the wicked gleam persisting.

“I just happen to agree that you definitely should keep the best man entertained,” she replied in a tone that implied a lot more than what the words were saying, along with an eyebrow waggle to really get the point across. Aelin immediately stiffened.

“Who’s the best man.” She said in a flat tone. Lysandra chose not to respond, instead just raising her eyebrows in a teasing manner. “Lysandra, who is it.”

“I think you already know,” she shot back, in a mocking tone. Aelin dropped her head into her hands.

“Oh gods, of course,” she sighed, “a whole week with Rowan Whitethorn. Just what I needed on top of this whole mess.” She saw the flicker of hurt in Lysandra’s eyes and regretted not thinking before she spoke. “I didn’t mean your wedding, of course not, you know I love you guys. It’s just being back in Orynth is tougher than I thought it would be.” Understanding, tinged with pity that made her slightly uncomfortable, replaced the hurt in Lysandra’s eyes as she set down the luggage and grabbed Aelin’s hand.

“I know it’s hard, and I’m sorry that you have to put up with Rowan for so long,” she replied, not sounding sorry at all about the second statement. Lysandra and Aedion had constantly bugged her about getting together with Rowan, both of them fully convinced that the tension that was between them when they argued was a signal of a different type of tension. Aelin was inclined to disagree, and she knew Rowan would say the same. “But I’m really glad that you’re here,” Lysandra continued.

“I’m really glad I’m here too,” she replied, pulling her best friend in for a hug, “but I do need to mentally prepare myself for that bastard. When is he supposed to get here?” Lysandra winced.

“He’s here already actually, his plane arrived about an hour before yours. Aedion went to meet him in the lobby and I’m sure they’re off doing something now,” she shot Aelin a look, “instead of greeting his lovely cousin like he should have.” Aelin rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure I’ll see Aedion later. Us cousins already talk to each other more than we do, you know,” Aelin changed to a teasing tone, “I was much more excited to hang out with my bestie than him. When he does decide to deign us with his presence, though, he better not be attached to Rowan by the hip.” Like they were in high school, she didn’t need to add. Just then, because the gods had to ruin her day, the elevator doors opened, revealing her smiling cousin and a face she hadn’t seen in ten years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the next chapter! I’m planning on switching between Aelin’s and Rowan’s pov every other chapter, so here’s a Rowan one for you!

Rowan Whitethorn did not know what to expect from this wedding. He hadn’t spoken to any of these people in about seven years, since he dropped out of college and left that stage of his life behind. It had been a tough time for him after Lyria and he had felt trapped in what he had been doing. So he cut everyone off and ran away, never settling down, becoming a travel writer instead of a normal journalist like he had planned. Which was why he was so shocked when he got a call from Aedion about the wedding, asking him to be Best Man. Sure he and Aedion had been best friends in high school and up through college until he left, but he thought that the way in which he left and the sheer amount of time that they hadn’t talked would make Aedion never want to talk to him again, but Aedion seemingly thought differently. 

As his taxi pulled up in front of the Terrasen Lodge, he felt even more nervous than before. It was now actually happening. He was going to see Aedion, and Lysandra, and Fenrys, and Ren, and Elide, and Lorcan, and more that he couldn’t even think of. High school had been some of the best years of his life, and he was excited to see all of his friends again, but he felt the crushing presence of his self-doubt, forcing him to think that they would hate him, wouldn’t want him there, only invited him to scorn him and make fun of him. He didn’t deserve any happiness after Lyria, so it was too good to be true that his friends actually wanted to see him. Which was why he was surprised again when he stepped out of the car and Aedion was there ready to greet him.

“Hey man it’s great to see you again,” Aedion said, “how have you been doing?” Rowan grabbed his luggage and they started walking into the hotel.

“I’ve been doing pretty good,” Lie, he’d been doing awfully for years. Eager to cut off that line of questioning, he steered the conversation to what he had been stressing about. “I was surprised you invited me actually, I know I didn’t really leave everyone on the best of terms.” Aedion glanced at him quizzically as they crossed the threshold of the door, into the comforting warmth of the lobby.

“I mean yeah we were upset that you left, but we all understood,” Rowan felt yet another jolt of shock at the words. “You were going through a lot, with Lyria and everything that happened, and we knew you probably needed space.” Rowan stopped and turned to face Aedion, prompting Aedion to stop as well.

“But it’s been years. Aren’t you even the slightest bit angry?” Aedion just raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, the seriousness of those gestures offset by the mocking smile that filled his face.

“Of course,” he said in a teasing tone, “I obviously didn’t want my best friend to abandon me. But I wasn’t going to burden you on top of what you already were dealing with.” Rowan immediately felt guilt in his stomach at the word abandon, thoughts drifting to another person he had abandoned, but was relieved at the lack of ire in Aedion’s voice. He was being sincere. Rowan picked up his luggage again and continued up to the check in desk with Aedion right beside him.

“I appreciate that, but I’m still sorry that I was such a shitty friend,” Rowan responded, still wanting Aedion to understand that he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. Aedion just rolled his eyes in good nature.

“Well, I still need my shitty friend at my wedding.” Rowan welcomed the shift in topic and immediately seized upon the opportunity to talk about something else. He got his room key from the person at the desk and they immediately began walking towards the elevators.

“Yeah, about that,” Rowan changed his voice to match Aedion’s teasing tone, “when did you and Lysandra even get together? Last I knew, she was still turning down your many requests for a date.” Aedion rolled his eyes. Rowan grinned and pushed the elevator button.

“It was a little bit after you dropped out actually.” Rowan raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You obviously know that she went to Terrasen University with us after she graduated high school.” Rowan nodded in confirmation, and they both got on the elevator when it arrived. Lysandra was a year younger than him and Aedion and therefore had gotten to college a year later. He had known her in high school, but she was always around Aelin so he didn’t really interact with her that much. Oh gods, would Aelin be at the wedding? He assumed so, since she was Aedion’s cousin, but he hadn’t actually thought about it before. He and Aelin had hated each other in high school, antagonizing each other in every way possible. Hopefully that wouldn’t continue this week, he didn’t want their petty feud to mess up the wedding. “Well anyway,” Aedion continued. Rowan immediately zoned back in, leaving his thoughts about Aelin behind. “Lysandra had seen how upset I was for you after everything that happened and finally decided to give me a chance.” Aedion’s eyes turned softer as he said that and Rowan felt the warmth in his own chest. “She also wasn’t in a great place at that time too, though. Aelin, you know obviously, went to Rifthold University instead of staying in Terrasen,” for reasons Rowan still didn’t understand, “so Lysandra didn’t really have anyone nearby to comfort her after Wesley broke up with her, and since we’d known each other practically since we were born, she turned to me.” Rowan frowned, he had never liked Wesley. Sure, he seemed like a nice guy, but there was something smarmy about him that Rowan had picked up right after meeting him. 

All he could think to say was “Well I hope you guys are happy.” The elevator door dinged open to reveal his floor and they both stepped out into the hallway. Aedion’s eyes got that soft look again, causing Rowan not to doubt that they were deeply in love. He had felt that type of love once, but he doubted he would ever feel it again. They walked in comfortable silence until they reached his room, and when he walked inside he glanced around to get a feel for his home for the next week. The exterior and the lobby of the hotel emitted a very warm and homey atmosphere, if not a little over the top Christmasy, but the room brought it to the next level. The dark wood and the multitude of plaid blankets piled on the bed made it somehow feel like a log cabin, despite them being on the third floor of a nice hotel. He set his luggage down on the bed, took off his heavy coat, and sat down on one of the armchairs over to the side, Aedion following suit. He was hoping they could use this time to catch up, before he was overwhelmed by everyone else.

So that’s what they did. For the next hour, they sat in those two armchairs and told each other everything that had happened over the past seven years. Rowan told Aedion all about his life as a travel writer, all of the different places and cultures he got to see. Aedion, in turn, told him all about his job at the private security firm, about his whole years long romance with Lysandra, and explained all about their friends’ different lives that have taken them all over the country after college. They subtly avoided speaking about Lyria and what happened after, choosing to just enjoy talking again instead of dwelling in the past. Rowan also noticed that they stayed away from the topic of Aelin as well, and what her life had been like since high school, an earlier time than everyone else due to her elected separation from all of them. He thought that was strange, due to her being Aedion’s cousin, but he wasn’t about to bring her up. Not only did she still spark annoyance in him every time he thought of her, despite it being a decade since he had last laid eyes on her, but Aedion, and Lysandra he knew, had always thought something was sparking romantically between the two of them, even though they displayed hatred at every encounter. He didn’t want to give him any encouragement.

“So who else is in the wedding party?” Rowan finally asked, wondering who was going to be showing up a few days early like him. Aedion just gave him a sly grin that made his stomach uneasy. Something was going on.

“Oh, we decided to keep it small. So you're the only groomsman and Lysandra only picked one bridesmaid, who’s also the maid of honor just like you’re the best man.” Aedion still had a teasing glint in his eyes, but Rowan decided not to push it, not wanting to rock the boat too much his first day back. So he just frowned slightly and asked when everybody else was going to show up, and who that everybody else was. When Aelin’s name was not mentioned in the general guest list, his stomach got slightly more nauseous as he realized what that implied. He hoped he was wrong. He did not need to spend more time with that brat than necessary.

After they finished, Aedion proposed going down to the bar and meeting up with Lysandra, and Rowan agreed. But as soon as they got to the elevator and the door slid open revealing people already inside, he knew it wasn’t going to be a simple reunion. Because next to Lysandra was a face he hadn’t seen in a decade. That face in question just gave him a sardonic smile before turning to her cousin and launching herself at him, Lysandra exiting the elevator after her.

“Hey cuz,” Aedion said happily as he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up, “how have you been?” Aelin pulled back and smiled at him fondly. 

“I think the more important question is how have you been? You’re the one getting married in less than a week,” She responded with, deflecting the question, although he wasn’t sure if anyone but him really noticed. Scratch that, Lysandra did too. He caught her frowning at Aelin slightly before stepping up toward him.

“Hey Rowan, it’s great to see you!” She said cheerfully, “Are you settling in okay? Was your flight completely miserable? Because Aelin seems to think plane rides suck, seeing as she doesn’t deign to fly on one to visit me,” He didn’t know what to say in response to that, so he just opened and closed his mouth in hesitation. Aelin just rolled her eyes at Lysandra before turning to look at him, the joyful attitude directed toward her cousin completely replaced by a more sarcastic one.

“Hello, Rowan,” she said, words sounding sincere but with a smooth mocking tone that made it clear they were anything but, “good to see you again after all these years.” He just inclined his head in response, uneager to start some sort of argument but unsure of what to say to avoid it. This just earned him another eye roll, which sparked that familiar infuriated feeling that happened everyday in high school. 

She turned back to Aedion and Lysandra and they held a conversation about the wedding that he only half paid attention to, instead taking the time to study the people he hadn’t seen in years. Aedion looked practically the same as he had in college, his features only changed slightly by age. Same with Lysandra, her beauty unchanged despite the time since they’d last seen each other. The real shocker was Aelin. They’d been apart the longest and the difference was clear. Back in high school he knew she was beautiful, had actually thought that right when he first saw her sophomore year, before she opened her mouth of course, but now she was a total knockout. Her younger face had slimmed out to form more defined cheekbones, and her golden hair had somehow become more luscious. She had lost the youthful innocence but had gained the statuesque maturity that made her truly stunning. Her turquoise and gold eyes were the same though, piercing and damning when turned on people she didn’t like, usually him. But underneath her put together appearance, the red lipstick and slightly scandalous work clothes, he could tell she wasn’t as put together as she would probably like. He could tell her hands were shaking slightly from where they clutched her handbag, and she looked a little too skinny, bordering on gaunt. Seemed like she had been through some shit since high school just like him.

“We’ll meet you boys down at the bar in a little bit,” he heard Lysandra say over the noise of his thoughts, “once we drop off Aelin’s luggage in her room.” And with that, the girls both stalked off, Lysandra with a wink over her shoulder and Aelin with a noticeable hair flip and sway of her hips. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes again, she was still just as vain now as she used to be apparently. He just hoped they’d be able to get through the week without killing each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I got a little busy with homework so this chapter is a few days later than I said.

Gods he was just as arrogant and condescending as he was in high school, Aelin thought as she stormed down the hallway after Lysandra. He hadn’t even said a single word, but she could tell by that look on his face, that mocking head nod that let her know just how little he still thought of her. She couldn’t deal with his attitude, not anymore. Maybe she was able to tolerate it in high school, well, to a certain extent, but she had changed too much since then to let it slide now.

Once she and Lysandra entered her hotel room she flopped on her bed and just laid there. She heard Lysandra chuckle softly behind her.

“He’s such a fucking prick,” she crumbled into one of the blankets on the bed. Lysandra laughed again.

“Aelin, he didn’t even say anything to you,” she responded with. Aelin lifted her head to look at her.

“That’s even worse, he couldn’t even bring himself to speak to me,” she dropped her head again, “and did you see that little nod he did? What an asshole.” She groaned. She felt like she was back in high school, talking shit about Rowan to Lysandra while simultaneously planning out how to mess with him. “I know I’m a mature adult now, but his smug face makes me want to punch him like I did that one time junior year.” She subconsciously knew that this was the most she had actually felt about anything since Nehemia’s death. Even if it was severe anger, it broke through the monotony of feeling numb. This whole wedding, actually, was filling her with more emotion, negative and positive, than she had felt in years. She sighed and sat up facing Lysandra. Lysandra simply stared at her, waiting for her to continue her rant. When it was clear she was done for the time being, Lysandra made the same wicked grin she had on earlier.

“Well if we’re revisiting our high school glory days, that means we have to get back at Rowan, for whatever reason you’ve concocted,” Aelin’s eyes narrowed at the implication that her fights with him were unprovoked, but formed a wicked grin of her own as she thought of an idea.

“I know what’ll rattle him,” she said as she stood and rushed to her luggage. She unzipped the suitcase and rifled through it for a few seconds until she found her prize. She turned around and held the dress up for Lysandra to inspect. Lysandra, in turn, whistled appreciatively.

“That’ll definitely get his attention,” Aelin frowned.

“I don’t want his attention like that, but looking hot will throw him off his guard, and then I can really strike.” Lysandra laughed and nodded her head. Aelin took that as agreement and strode over to the bathroom.

Once she emerged, clothed in the dress, Lysandra gasped excitedly from her spot on the bed.

“You look stunning, Aelin!” She said, clapping her hands, “talk about a blonde bombshell.” Aelin met Lysandra’s eyes and laughed before turning back to her suitcase and rifling through it again.

“Lysandra, you have to change too,” Aelin said as she dug out a tight, crimson, cocktail dress and threw it at the brunette. “I know Aedion already proposed to you but you still have to show him how lucky he is.” It was Lysandra’s turn to laugh as she stood and grabbed the dress before prancing over to the bathroom.

Aelin used her sudden solitude as a chance to look in the mirror for the first time since changing. The dress truly was gorgeous. It was black velvet that clung to her skin, with a modest neckline that contrasted the short length. The real masterpiece was the golden dragon embroidered on the back, starting on the bottom and curling up towards her neck. But when she looked past the immediate effect of the dress, she found her appearance lacking. She knew she hadn’t been taking care of herself: running too much, working all day, usually only eating one meal instead of the recommended three. Those habits took their toll on her body, the curves she used to have were diminished and her normally golden skin was a little sallow. No wonder Lysandra and Aedion kept wondering if she was okay. Maybe she should just ditch this whole plan. She wasn’t distracting enough anymore to make him flustered. She sighed and grabbed her makeup and refreshed her mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick in an attempt to put herself back together.

By the time she was done, Lysandra was exiting the bathroom, and Lysandra spun around, showing off her curves in her borrowed dress. It was Aelin’s turn to whistle appreciatively.

“Aedion will want to date you all over again when he sees you in that,” she said, complimenting her best friend. Lysandra rolled her eyes fondly and grabbed Aelin’s hand, pulling her toward the door. “Wait! I need my shoes!” Lys released her with an exasperated sigh as Aelin rushed back to her suitcase and pulled on a pair of strappy black heels. “Okay, now let's go give them hell.”

When they reached the bar, they were surprised to find it fairly busy. It made sense, though, that the below freezing weather would drive people inside. The room was dark, but carried the same cozy atmosphere as the rest of the hotel, with a wooden bar toward the back and several comfy seating areas close by. There was Christmas music playing in the background, of course, muffled by the multitude of people talking, and the customary Christmas tree in the corner. Aelin took all of the holiday decor in with a little wince. She understood why people celebrated of course, but the car crash had happened in December, so the whole season was forever ruined for her. 

“There they are!” Lysandra exclaimed, catching Aelin’s attention, before pointing to a set up of cushioned chairs around a small table in the corner near the tree. Indeed, sitting there was Rowan and Aedion, still in the same casual clothes they had on earlier, completely contrasting the extravagant nature of the girls’ outfits. Aedion seemed to agree once he noticed as they walked over there.

“Those dresses are a little unsuitable for this weather, don’t you think?” He said, laughing tone evident. His eyes widened as Lys did a little spin for him, showing off her spectacular body in the tight dress. Aelin simply raised an eyebrow and headed toward an open chair, unfortunately across from Rowan. It was quite a predicament that he was so hot, considering she’d sworn to loathe him for all eternity; the years apart had truly done him well. His silver hair and dark green eyes formed a stunning combination that was hard to draw away from, unlike his personality, which set people running.

“Cold weather doesn’t mean we can’t look good, Aedion” she teasingly chastised. “You shouldn’t complain anyway, just look at your fiancée.” Aedion conceded a nod before returning his gaze to Lysandra. Lysandra just scoffed, full well knowing she looked good but not wanting to steal all the attention for herself.

“Look at you too, Aelin.” It was Aelin’s turn to playfully scoff, but she couldn’t help doing a spin of her own, still sticking to her plan of catching Rowan off guard. Aedion whistled.

“That’s a snazzy dress, Ae. But why did you even bring it? You’re wearing a long dress for the wedding.”

“I was planning on wearing it for your rehearsal dinner,” she replied before finally sitting down and resting her feet, already aching in those shoes, “but I couldn’t resist wearing it early.” Rowan just rolled his eyes and she shot a look at him, narrowing her own eyes. Lysandra plopped down in the seat next to her, but Aedion stood up and offered to go grab them all drinks. They all listed their orders and he left to go up to the bar. They sat in slightly awkward silence for a few moments before Aelin turned to her main amusement for the night, bothering Rowan.

“Nothing to say, Rowan? You’ve been pretty quiet this whole time,” she leaned forward slightly, turning her gaze toward him.

“I’m afraid your actions haven’t yet merited a verbal response.” At this, she narrowed her eyes again before regaining an over dramatic air of casualty, making clear it was on purpose.

“Are you saying you don’t like my dress? I wore it just for you,” she shot with sarcasm.

“And what did I do to earn that privilege?” He said with sarcasm shooting right back.

“Nothing really, I just felt like showing you what a beautiful woman looks like, considering you probably haven’t had much experience with them.” Lysandra winced at the harsh statement. Rowan just went back to his typical eye roll before finally responding with

“Can’t we try and be civil, Aelin? I know that may be hard for you, but it’s been ten years.” She might have been tempted to agree, due to her desire not to alienate Lysandra and Aedion, but the condescension in his statement prevented her from doing that. The implication that it was  _ her _ fault and that  _ she _ was the child in this situation irritated her to her core. She leaned forward again and was about to shoot a reply back when the room quieted a little bit and she could hear what song was playing. She instantly went rigid. It was Jingle Bell Rock, the same song that they had been singing to in the car that fateful night, right before everything went wrong. As the upbeat notes and the crooning voice continued, she felt her panic begin to rise. The others had just continued on to a different conversation, assuming she wasn’t going to reply to Rowan's proposal. She felt the nausea rise in her stomach and she muttered a quick “Excuse me” to her group before bolting to the bathroom, barely making it into a stall before vomiting her guts up. She heaved a few more times before vomiting again. When she was confident she was done throwing up, she relaxed slightly, enjoying the quiet away from that wretched song and the memories it dragged back up. The wall of the stall was cool against her back as she leaned against it, trying to calm herself down. After a few moments, she heard quiet footsteps join her in the bathroom.

“Aelin? Are you okay?” Came Lysandra’s concerned voice. Aelin just made a small noise that sounded very much like a whimper, and Lys rushed into the stall and kneeled down next to her.

“I’m fine, Lys,” she croaked, “it’s just that fucking song.” Lysandra nodded in understanding. Aelin had told her the whole story of what happened, including the song and how it seemed to trigger that same loss and desperation she felt right after the accident whenever she heard it, despite it being almost a decade past. She just reached over and brushed her hand over Aelin’s loose hair, comforting her the best she could. They sat there for a little bit in silence before Aelin decided to speak again.

“How did the boys react when I practically ran away?” She said in a teasing voice that sounded a little too pained, trying to shift the attention away from her unbearable weakness. Lysandra just laughed.

“Well Aedion was concerned, of course, when he got back and you weren’t there, but poor Rowan just looked confused.” Aelin smiled at that.

“Well at least I rattled him in some way.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but we’re getting to some good stuff in the next ones. I’m sorry if the characters seem a little ooc, I’m new to writing but I’m trying my best. Let me know what you think!

When Aelin made her quick exit, Rowan couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. But that confusion turned to anger rapidly, as he realized that she probably ran away to avoid having to respond to his remark.  _ So childish _ , he thought, despite them both being in their late twenties. Aedion returned from the bar with their drinks and looked worried when he didn’t spot Aelin.

“I’ll go check on her,” murmured Lysandra as she stood up and hurried in the direction Aelin had gone. Aedion stared after her for a few seconds before sitting down and putting the drinks on the table.

“I’m sure they’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said simply. They slipped into an easy conversation about the football game playing on one of the TVs until, sure enough, both of the girls were back. Aelin walked slightly behind Lysandra, looking a little pale, but said nothing as they both took back their earlier seats. Lysandra joined their conversation, but Aelin remained silent, instead gazing at her drink most of the time.

A phone ringing distracted them, and Lysandra muttered an apology before answering it. She listened for a couple of seconds before swearing softly.

“Right now? It’s seven o'clock at night,” she said incredulously. Aedion glanced at her, concerned again, but Aelin still remained with her eyes downcast. “Alright fine, we’ll be there in a few minutes.” She ended the call and glanced up at them. “Sorry guys, Aedion and I gotta go, there’s an emergency with the flowers.”

“The flowers? Really?” Aedion said.

“I know, it’s annoying, but we don’t want to risk the order getting messed up so close to the wedding.” Aedion sighed and stood up, Lysandra following suit.

“Well bye guys, sorry to leave you like this, we’ll see you tomorrow morning.” They both left with a wave, leaving him and Aelin alone. They stayed silent for a few minutes, just sipping their drinks and ignoring each other before Rowan felt that urge to antagonize her, just like in high school. He tried to resist it, but his past self’s personality won the fight.

“I see you’re still the same as always, running away when things aren’t going the way you want them to.” Her eyes shot up at his sudden statement.

“What gave you that impression?” She replied harshly, in a more aggressive tone than earlier.

“Maybe it was your sudden departure earlier after I asked a question you didn’t like?” He asked in a sarcastic tone, tapping his chin like he was really thinking about it. She clenched her jaw but didn’t refute the claim. He should’ve felt bad about his behavior, but he found that he didn’t really care. It wasn’t like she was completely innocent either. He knew what she had been trying to do with that dress she had on, hoping to throw him off balance. She did look very attractive in it, her lean legs on display and the golden dragon on the back highlighting her ass, but he wasn’t about to let her know he thought that.

“Maybe I just don’t like spending time with condescending brutes like you,” was her retort. He chuckled slightly.

“Resorting to petty insults, I see.” She rolled her eyes and continued on the offensive.

“I seem to recall those being your choice of weaponry in high school when you were too thick headed to think of anything creative.” He narrowed his eyes at the insult.

“This coming from the girl who had to retake algebra.” She scoffed.

“Mr. Erawan had it out for me and you know it,” she replied with snark.

“If you say so,” he said in a mock teasing voice, “I just think you can’t admit that you aren’t perfect at everything.” She laughed humorlessly.

“I know I’m not perfect, which is more than you can say for yourself Mr. High and Mighty,” Aelin replied with sarcasm, swirling her straw in her glass. Rowan took a sip of his own drink, trying to soothe the anger running through his veins. Now was not the time to argue like this, he thought, ignoring the fact that he started the conversation. They resumed their silence for a few more minutes, both of them attempting to ignore the other. He glanced toward one of the TVs by the bar. It was playing one of those old black and white Christmas movies,  _ It’s A Wonderful Life _ he assumed, based on the familiar looking actors. His family had never been big Christmas people, unlike most of his friends and most people in general. Aedion and Aelin, he remembered, were always overflowing with Christmas spirit. Aedion had always tried to force him into wearing reindeer ears the last day of school before break, despite Rowan’s constant refusals. He hadn’t wanted to give Aelin any more ammunition than she already had. Rowan snuck a surreptitious glance at her, only to find her already staring at him.

“What?” he asked snappishly, slightly uncomfortable at her attention. She just rolled her eyes and focused back on her drink that, despite having been ordered a while ago, was still full. After a few more minutes, Aelin finally broke the silence.

“Why did you even come?” She asked fairly bluntly. He glanced at her in surprise.

“To the bar or to the wedding?” He replied sarcastically, knowing full well what she was referring to, but not quite eager to jump into that realm of conversation with her.

“You know what I’m asking, asshole.” His defenses rose out the prodding question, and snapped back before he really knew what he was saying.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Her eyebrows shot up with dizzying speed, and her damning gaze was once again directed at him.

“I think it is my business when it affects my cousin and my best friend’s happiness.” She said incredulously. Rowan understood her concern, had felt the same concern when he told Aedion he’d go, but he wasn’t about to spill out those feelings to her. 

“Can you still call her your best friend when you live practically a thousand miles away?” He said instead, turning to jabs instead of actually responding to her statement. She just scoffed in anger.

“I don’t think you’re the one to be lecturing me on that considering  _ you _ abandoned  _ your _ best friend with only a bullshit excuse of a reason.” Excuse? The insinuation that Lyria’s death was an excuse hit deep in his core.

“You’re such a bitch.” He said sharply, shaking his head slightly. If  _ Aedion _ could forgive him, then this girl had no right to throw it in his face. He felt a surge of anger and couldn’t stop what came out of his mouth next. “Is that why Sam broke up with you? He couldn’t handle how awful you were?” He knew it was a low blow, bringing up her high school boyfriend. He didn’t even know if that’s what ended their relationship, but he knew they weren’t together anymore so he just blindly threw out something that he knew would bug her. He wasn’t expecting the vicious anger on her face that arose from his words.

“You don’t know shit about Sam,” she said with venom.

“But I do know shit about you,” he said, getting further riled up by her attitude.

“At least I wasn’t such a horrible friend that I drove away everyone who even  _ tried  _ to be around me for years.”

“No, you just moved to a different state out of the blue and caused your friend to go through a traumatic breakup by herself and your cousin to spend his college years worrying about you instead of having fun.” Again, he shouldn’t be saying this because he didn’t really know what Lysandra had gone through, or what Aelin may have gone through, not that he cared about her, but he couldn’t stop himself from spitting out words he knew would hurt.

“You’re such an asshole. You have no right to say anything about that.” She grumbled the last words tensely, slightly rising out of her seat and bracing her hands on the table in front of her. He subconsciously matched her position, staring directly into her wildfire eyes.

“If you get to make snap judgements then so do I, princess.” Her brows furrowed in anger at the condescending nickname. “I don’t know what bullshit you’ve been getting yourself into for the past decade, and frankly I don’t care, but for all our sakes, keep your infuriating attitude to yourself.”

“It’s a wonder you have any friends at all with your personality. If I was Aedion I would’ve said good riddance when you left.” He clenched his jaw at the insult she spat out, unknowingly hitting at his strongest insecurity. He _was_ surprised Aedion hadn’t said good riddance, had expected him to. He didn’t deserve to be accepted back with such nonchalance. Not after what he had done and had failed to do.

“Well you’re stuck with me for the week so you better try and figure out some way to handle my presence,” he snapped. 

“I don’t think I can ever handle being around a person like you,” she spat out, “a selfish asshole who will never ever find someone who cares enough about you to put up with your shit.” They were basically yelling now, but the volume was overtaken by the volume of the screaming in his head, triggered by her statement. Lyria’s screaming. Lyria had put up with his shit, had loved him enough to want to be with him, but he hadn’t been good enough to keep her. If he had been better, if he had been there that day, she would be here at this table with him instead. It was his fault, though, he deserved whatever punishment the gods decided to give him. It seemed the gods chose justice in the form of Aelin, bringing up the ghosts of his past.

He just sat there, face blank, having been thrown to the wolves of his memory, not functioning enough to think of an adequate response. After a few moments of silence Aelin huffed a laugh that lacked humor and left the table, grabbing her purse and practically running to the elevator. He stared at his drink for the next few minutes, trying to calm the roaring in his blood that was begging him to help Lyria, save Lyria, let him die instead of Lyria, even though she had been gone for years and there was no more enemy to fight. There was no going back in time and he knew he needed to deal with that. But he also knew that it would be many more years until he was even close.

Rowan didn’t remember the walk back to his room, going to bed, or even the nightmares that he was sure plagued him that night. But he did remember the phone call that woke him up at the crack of dawn. The blaring ringtone roused him from his fitful sleep, Aedion’s voice streaming out when he answered.

“I need your help.”


	5. Chapter 5

Aelin woke to glaring daylight streaming through the curtains that she swore she closed last night. One glance around her hotel room pointed her to the culprit, Lysandra. She was sitting in one of the armchairs drinking a cup of coffee, seemingly waiting for Aelin to wake up.

“Fuck, Lysandra, what time is it?” She grumbled, annoyed. She shoved the pillow over her face in an attempt to block out the light. She needed more sleep. Last night she had been plagued by terrible nightmares, comparable to the ones she had had every night when she was stuck in that damned hospital bed. Hearing that song, and Rowan’s horrible accusations, had set off her tumultuous emotions and she knew today was going to be tough. She felt heavy, and the stress of the wedding and being back in Orynth was unlikely to lift off any weight.

“It’s time for  _ you  _ to wake up,” Lysandra said simply. Aelin moved the pillow and glared at her, earning an eye roll back. “Fine, it’s about 7:30.” Aelin frowned. “A perfectly reasonable time to start your day.”

“Really, Lys? You know I don’t wake up til at least ten when I don’t have work.” Lysandra rolled her eyes again.

“When would that be?” She said, voice full of exasperation. “You don’t do anything but work.” Aelin finally sat up at the insult and stared at Lysandra, face tense with offense, anger still broiling in her veins from the argument with Rowan the night before.

“You don’t get to judge me, Lys” she said, voice tight, trying to keep hold of her emotions. Lysandra glanced over at her, and seemed somewhat surprised when she saw how upset she was. “I meant it when I apologized for not seeing you as often as both of us would like, but you don’t get to criticize how I choose to deal with my shit.” Aelin knew she was only on edge right now because of the night before, and felt immediately guilty for lashing out at her friend. Lysandra just remained still, slightly in shock at how tense the morning had become. Aelin scrubbed at her face and stood up from her bed, walking over to the coffee maker and getting her own cup.

“I’m sorry,” Lysandra said, voice small, as Aelin sat down across from her. Aelin sighed.

“No, I’m sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I’m just a little wound up right now.” Lysandra looked at her curiously.

“Any particular reason?” Aelin scoffed.

“Me and Whitethorn did not have a very pleasant time after you two left.” Lysandra raised an eyebrow in a request for more info. Aelin sighed before continuing, her throat tight with the threat of tears. “He said,” she took a deep breath, “he said that Sam broke up with me because I was a bitch.” The tears finally spilled out of her eyes at the thought of Sam. Her first boyfriend, her first love, gone before he even hit eighteen. Lysandra looked about ready to murder Rowan, but Aelin cut her off before she could say anything. “Does he not know? How could he not know?” Lysandra looked slightly guilty at her questions.

“I don’t think Aedion ever told him.” Aelin looked at her in shock, tears momentarily pausing. Rowan doesn’t know. She suspected when he made that completely off-base comment, but the reality was still surprising. He didn’t know about the single most traumatic event of her life. Even if he wouldn’t care, it still seemed odd for him not to have heard about it, especially having been best friends with Aedion when it happened.

“Why?” She asked. Lysandra shrugged slightly.

“He figured it was your thing to share.” Aelin appreciated Aedion’s thoughtfulness around the matter, he always was trying his best to help her out any way he could, even if he could never truly understand. Yes, he lost his aunt and uncle in the crash, but he wasn’t the one to have his entire life ripped away from him in a single moment.

“How did he explain my parents’ death? He would’ve had to tell Rowan when he went to the funeral.” She asked, still incredulous. Lysandra furrowed her brow.

“I don’t know exactly, I obviously wasn’t close to them then.” Right, that was their senior year of high school. Lysandra didn’t become close with Aedion until her junior year of college after her horrible breakup with Wesley, another thing Rowan had thrown in her face despite the fact that Aelin had FaceTimed with Lys everyday back then, making sure she was okay even though she was halfway across the continent. She was there for her friend, just like her friend had been there for her three years prior.

“Hmm,” was all she said in response, mulling over the information. Just because he didn’t know didn’t excuse what he had said to her. If he thought Sam was alive and they had just broken up, his accusations were still horrible to make. His venom left little doubt in her mind that he would’ve said similar things if he did know anyway. And Aelin knew she had said some nasty things in response, but he started the argument so she didn’t feel nearly as much remorse as she probably should’ve. Lysandra set her cup on the table and the noise drew Aelin’s attention away from her thoughts. “Why did you wake me up anyway?” She questioned, wondering what her friend’s goal was. Lysandra looked wary as she answered.

“I had a favor to ask, but I’m rethinking it,” she responded. Aelin shot her a suspicious glance.

“What is it?” she said. She finished up her cup of coffee and went to go put it back by the coffeemaker. Lysandra followed suit, before responding cautiously.

“I was going to ask if you could go decorate the cabin for after the wedding, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I know the whole Christmas thing is still a sore spot for you.” Aelin barely even thought about it before nodding her head.

“Of course I’ll help, and don’t worry about me I’ll be fine.” she assured Lysandra. Christmas decorations, she could do Christmas decorations, but she sure as hell would not be playing Christmas music. When she glanced over at her friend, she found a still unsure face looking back at her. “Lys, it’s really okay. It’s been ten years, I should be fine now, and I want to help you guys out. It is my job as maid of honor,” she added teasingly. 

“You say you should be fine, but  _ are  _ you fine?” Lysandra questioned. “You remember last night, don’t you?” Aelin pursed her lips slightly.

“Yes,” she said tightly, suddenly defensive, “I am and I do.” Lysandra looked disbelieving, but wisely said nothing. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Aelin added “Do you want it decked out the same way we did it junior year?”, referencing the time they decorated the cabin completely drunk. It was usually a whole family affair, putting up decorations, but that year they had convinced her parents to let them surprise them. Turns out, alcohol was not the best idea for creating a pleasing aesthetic, and they had to redo the whole cabin the next day. Lysandra snorted at the memory.

“I’m hoping for a little less exuberance and more actual design decisions.” Aelin chuckled at the response. “Besides, you’re the architect, I think you can figure it out.” Aelin rolled her eyes.

“Designing high rises does not correlate to expert Christmas decorating,” she said in a teasing tone. “But I’m sure I can think of something.” She noticed that Lys still looked a little wary and she huffed a little before continuing. “What else is the matter?” Lysandra leaned against the counter.

“Nothing,” she said a little too casually to be convincing, but Aelin wasn’t going to pry the answer out of her so she didn’t question her further.

  
  
  
  
  


When Aelin pulled up to the cabin a few hours later, she took a moment to reminisce. She hadn’t been there since high school, not wanting or daring to even step foot in Orynth since the accident. She had only brought Sam here a few times, so she wasn’t hit with pain of his death, but the place reeked of memories of her parents. Cold winter nights huddled around the fire, Christmas mornings filled with the scent of cinnamon and pine, weekend vacations in the summer to get away from the pressures of work. She had 18 years worth of visits to this place, and seeing it again reminded her of all she lost. She sucked in a shaky breath, trying to ignore the tightness in her chest, and walked up to the front door.

The cabin itself was pretty small, just two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a combined living room and kitchen, but the atmosphere was very cozy. She didn’t take off her coat as she stepped inside, knowing it would be cold inside until she started a fire in the fireplace, so she was shocked to feel a rush of warm air that made her thick jacket quickly uncomfortable. A perusal of the room found that the fire was already going, soft crackling filling the otherwise quiet atmosphere. She narrowed her eyes, slightly confused. She was the only one here, the car she borrowed from Lys was the only one in the driveway.

Aelin figured that Lys and Aedion had been up here at last once since they started planning the wedding, multiple times if she was being honest. Aedion and Lys loved the cabin as much as she had. Aedion had practically been Aelin’s brother and had vacationed with them practically every time they went, and Lysandra had always stayed with them for Christmas and whenever they wanted someplace off the radar to go get drunk. But, she also knew they wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave a fire going, and it would’ve probably burnt out by the time Aelin was there anyway, so that meant that despite what she had assumed, someone else was here.

The sound of a door opening grabbed Aelin’s attention, and she pursed her lips at the sight of Rowan entering the room, a flood of anger flowing through her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked harshly. He looked just as surprised to see her, but quickly recovered and clenched his jaw.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied, not moving from the doorway. Aelin just rolled her eyes.

“Lysandra asked me to decorate the cabin for her and Aedion,” she said drily, “are you here hiding from  _ your  _ responsibilities,  _ Best Man _ ?” Rowan scoffed in anger and walked over to the corner of the room, where there were a bunch of cardboard boxes stacked, presumably with Christmas decor.

“Apparently we have the same responsibilities,  _ Maid of Honor _ ,” he said, opening a box and practically throwing a strand of garland at her. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at the statement and his action.

“No way,” she said, shaking her head, “I am not doing this.” His words from last night still echoed in her head, and she wasn’t exactly eager to hear any more of his stinging comments, nonetheless spend any actual time with him. This would take all day, most likely, and Aelin wanted peace and quiet while she worked. She also didn’t want him anywhere near her if there was the slightest chance of her having a breakdown. It  _ had  _ happened last night, and being in the cabin, with all of its memories, surrounded by Christmas, was a lit fuse she didn’t know the length of. 

But, she didn’t want to disappoint Lysandra, so she would have to get over it. She huffed a sigh and picked up the garland on the ground. Rowan didn’t even acknowledge that he had her protest, and instead was opening another box and going through the contents of it.

“You’re going about this completely the wrong way,” she said. He turned and looked at her incredulously.

“What do you mean, oh master of Christmas decorating,” he replied mockingly. She walked over to where he was kneeling and dumped the garland back in the box. He made an indignant noise but she ignored it and kept talking. “We still need a tree, and I am not getting a fake one, so I hope you know how to use an axe.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have the next chapter after weeks of no updates! Sorry, this one is a bit shorter than the others, but it’s more of a segue into what happens in the next chapter, and hopefully I’ll get that one out sooner!

Rowan trudged into the forest, carrying the saw that he had grabbed after explaining to an irritated Aelin that an axe was not the best tool to use for this task. He would know, despite not being a big Christmas person, he had grown up cutting down his own trees for the holiday.

He also had always helped Aedion, who was tasked with getting the tree for his family every year. Rowan never spent any of the holiday with the Ashryvers, had never been to their cabin, despite being Aedion’s best friend. It just wasn’t very important to him, so it never happened.

“So, I’m looking on this website, and they said to cut the trunk low to the ground,” Aelin’s voice rang out from behind him. He clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to spit something nasty at her. Despite now knowing that Aedion hadn’t told her about what happened, he still couldn’t get her words out of his head.

_ A selfish asshole who will never ever find someone who cares enough about you to put up with your shit. _

Sure Aelin didn’t know the specifics, but she had meant the words wholeheartedly. So he had no reason to forgive her for it.

“I know how to cut down a damn tree,” he practically growled back at her. It had been an unpleasant surprise to see her at the cabin, although it really shouldn’t have been one at all. She was the more obvious choice for decorating, and as much as Rowan didn’t want to be around her, she would do a better job than him.

Not at getting a tree, though. She sucked at that.

“You suck at this,” he echoed as she meandered around the woods, apparently looking for an “acceptable” tree. Aelin stopped and glared at him, before looking down at her boots. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she was embarrassed.

“I’ve never done this before, okay?,” She muttered quietly, as if unwilling to share the information. Rowan couldn’t help but laugh, a mocking laugh that had her glaring again. “Go ahead and laugh, you imbecile, I don’t care what you think.” He sent her an unimpressed look, the corners of his lips tilting up again, more genuine this time than the last.

He shook his head, getting rid of the rebellious smile.

_ A selfish asshole who will never ever find someone who cares enough about you to put up with your shit _

The smile faded completely, turning into a harsh frown.

“Then why did you suggest we do this?” He asked, avoiding looking at her. Instead he forced himself to look at how the recent snowfall made the trees glisten to distract from the nightmares making their way back into his head.

“Because a real tree makes everything look better,” Aelin called out from ahead, prancing away from him, breezy voice making it clear she didn’t notice or care about his change of tone and had gotten over her shyness quickly. Rowan followed, muttering something unkind under his breath.

\-----

After finally deciding on a tree, and going through the whole infuriating process of cutting it down and lugging it back to the cabin, they were finally starting on decorations. It was a mainly silent affair, neither him nor Aelin eager to say anything and potentially bring up the mess that was their conversation the night before. They both seemed to have mutually agreed that anger beneath the surface was better than anger projected at the other.

The quiet was filled by soft Christmas music coming from the radio, which had earned him an indecipherable look from Aelin when he turned it on. 

It seemed very peaceful at first, but Rowan could not stand Aelin’s micromanagement over everything he did. Every ornament had to be placed a certain way, and if the garland wasn’t evenly spaced on the mantle or the tree then she made him start over. 

On the surface, it seemed like she was just concerned about making the place look nice for Aedion and Lysandra, which he could relate to, but he could tell it was also a way for her to irritate him and put him on edge. 

Aelin was always like that in high school, constantly doing stuff to mess with him and get on his nerves. She was quite practiced at it, and therefore was usually the only one that could bug him that much. Especially now. Rowan was quite numb to the world, but coming back to Orynth, and back into  _ her _ presence, had set off all of the emotions he had been keeping down for years.

He had felt sadness upon going back to the city where he lost Lyria, joy and relief when his friends had quickly accepted him, frustration when Aelin showed up and brought him back to his immature high school self. 

But now, all he felt was annoyance. 

“Rowan,” Aelin called out from the other side of the room, pinning Christmas lights above the kitchen cabinets, “you’re doing that wrong.” Rowan paused, arms halfway to hanging the next paper snowflake up, and huffed through his nose. He turned to her and hummed in acknowledgement. “You have to make sure they’re spaced out evenly,” she continued.

If he heard those words,  _ spaced out evenly _ , one more time, he was going to scream. 

“They  _ are  _ even,” he insisted, and finished pinning the string up to the ceiling, ignoring her. Aelin scoffed and looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

“If you want to half-ass your job, that’s your prerogative, but I’m not going to act like I’m okay with it.”

Rowan clenched his jaw, almost ripping the next snowflake with all of the tension he was holding in his body. 

“I’m not half-assing anything,” he forced out, “the snowflakes look perfectly fine.” She snorted this time, but didn’t press the issue any further, turning back to her project instead. 

But, less than ten minutes later, he was grinding his teeth again.

“Rowan, you need to fix the blankets you folded on the couch, they’re a disaster.” He climbed down from his ladder quickly and slammed the rest of the paper on the dining table.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m done.” Aelin looked over in surprise.

“What?” she replied. Rowan walked over to where he had his stuff set on the table and picked it up, snatching Aelin’s car keys. “Hey! Those are mine!” Aelin yelled, as she saw his hand.

“I’ll send someone to come pick you up later,” he continued, walking over to the door. But before he left, he turned back to her. “You seem to think you know everything, so I’ll just leave this all to you. I’m sure Aedion and Lysandra will find another job for me.” And without waiting for a response, he left.

\---

Right when he got outside, Rowan was shocked by the snow falling. He hadn’t been paying attention to the windows while decorating, too focused on trying not to strangle Aelin, and he apparently missed the blizzard that was developing. Unsurprising. Orynth was known for awful weather around Christmas time, something he hadn’t missed when traveling around the world.

He huffed a breath as he opened the driver’s seat to what he now recognized as Lysandra’s car, and started the ignition, eager to get away from the place and back to the warmth and isolation of his hotel room.

But driving proved to be more difficult than was ideal, as the snow was blinding his view of the road. It wasn’t like there were many cars to avoid up there, but the mountainous road was very twisty, and when even Aedion had struggled to drive when dropping Rowan off, he knew that the snow was going to be a major obstacle.

He kept going, though, driving about 20 miles under the speed limit, with the wipers on high to keep the windshields as clear as he could. After only half an hour of driving, and only getting about a fourth of the distance back to the hotel, he called it quits and pulled over to the side of the road. The snow was getting worse, and he didn’t trust his driving enough to consider himself safe.

So he gritted his teeth and turned the car around, heading back up to the cabin and back to Aelin.

\---

Rowan was surprised to find Aelin sitting on the couch instead of obsessing over the individual strands of tinsel on the tree. He scowled as he stormed back into the room, snow practically dripping off of him as he took off his coat.

“Back so soon?” Aelin asked teasingly, with a mocking tone to her voice. 

“Driving is shit right now,” he replied, before going to the kitchen and starting to make a cup of hot cocoa, hoping to warm his body back up.

“Are you sure you didn’t just miss my glorious company?” She turned around to look at him from her spot, and Rowan got a view of her hard expression, which contrasted her seemingly light questions.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said sarcastically. He set the mug in the microwave and set the timer, flipping to the radar on his phone to track the blizzard. What he saw made him freeze.

The storm really  _ had _ blown up. It covered the whole city and the surrounding area, and seemed to be moving very slowly, meaning it wasn’t going to pass them by any time soon.

“The roads are closed,” Aelin said from the living room, looking at her own phone, “probably for the night.” Rowan leaned his head against the upper cabinets and sighed. It was going to be a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s finally finished! After more than a month my brain decided to work! This chapter is the longest so far, so I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> CW: mentions of death

The day had quickly gone from awful to completely horrible. When Aelin had watched the weather get gradually worse, she had a sense of wariness. Sure it wasn’t unusual for the roads to be closed, it snowed in Orynth all the time, but she had checked the radar the day before and it wasn’t supposed to storm for another few days. But here they were. Stupid app, never reliable.

Being snowed in at the cabin by itself wasn’t a bad thing. She loved the cabin, and was totally ready to snuggle on the couch with a blanket, drinking hot cocoa and maybe watching a Christmas movie, although the power would probably go out at some point. But the presence of Rowan Whitethorn made her plans go by the wayside. Aelin had been thrilled when he left, admittedly a little disgruntled by his quick and rude departure, so his return was not as happy.

And as the afternoon turned into evening, and all of the decorating was done, it turned into an awkward dance of avoiding each other, the silence preferable but still somehow loud, pressing down on her so she was always aware of it and him.

Rowan volunteered to make them dinner, the first words uttered for hours. Aelin didn’t argue, knowing that he was most likely much better in the kitchen than her sad attempts at cooking could ever be.

“Do you think Lys and Aedion are worried about us?” She asked after a little while, wandering into the kitchen to watch his progress. He was making some sort of pasta dish using whatever ingredients he found that weren’t expired or used up.

“I’d assume they know where we are, considering they both sent us here,” he replied, with a tinge of bitterness coating his voice. Aelin sighed and collapsed onto a stool at the breakfast bar. She wouldn’t normally have been desperate enough to interact with him, but the power, as she predicted, went out about two hours prior so she was super bored and was forced to turn to him for entertainment.

They had lit candles around the cabin to give it some light, and Rowan had had to use a match to light the burner of the gas stove to get some sort of heat to cook. Both were well versed in snow storm power outages, but it was a pain nonetheless.

Not to mention it was  _ cold.  _ They had the fire going, but it wasn’t enough to warm up the whole cabin, so Aelin had grabbed about four blankets from around the place and was clutching them tightly around her shoulders as she wandered around, looking for something to do.

Rowan was somehow unfazed, only wearing the long sleeved shirt and jeans he had on when he first arrived.

With a personality as cold as his, it didn’t surprise her that he would fit in with the ice and snow.

Aelin huffed a sigh and rested her chin on her hand, kicking her feet as she waited impatiently for him to finish.

“If you’re going to be annoying, go do it somewhere else,” Rowan snapped, apparently not happy with her fidgeting.

“Where’d you learn to cook?” She said instead, ignoring his demand.

He turned around, taking his attention off the food for a second, and glared at her indignantly.

“Did you somehow not hear what I just said?”

She smiled, more like baring her teeth, and met his gaze.

“I don’t really like to listen to the words of an ungrateful bastard,” she said.

“ _ Ungrateful?”  _ He asked incredulously, “ _ you’re  _ the spoiled little princess.” Aelin clenched her jaw as she fought off her memories threatening to emerge from the shadows in her mind.  _ Blaring headlights. The steady beeping of a machine. Unbearable pain shooting down her spine.  _ Spoiled indeed.

“You’re acting like you’re taking everything for granted!” She practically yelled, suddenly angry. “Aedion did  _ not  _ have to welcome you back like he did, nor did Lysandra, and you’re still being a grumpy asshole about  _ everything!”  _ Her pent up frustration was let out, from the night before and from the last decade of her life, where she felt like she was being pulled along aimlessly, unable to steady her feet and take a step in a solid direction. A too apt comparison.

“What about you?” He said back, just as venomously. “Prancing around in your designer shoes, trying to make an ass out of everyone who doesn’t worship the very ground you walk on!”

It was that easy to set them off into another argument, the tension between them bursting once again.

They threw vile words at each other, every petty insult from high school making an appearance, used as a weapon against the other.

They moved closer and closer, dinner forgotten, until they were inches apart, chests heaving as they stared at each with fury.

Aelin didn’t know what the final straw was, didn’t register the noise, but suddenly she was reaching up and slapping him. The pain flared in her palm, but she didn’t feel it, too wrapped up in his wide eyes to notice.

The room got so silent the fire crackling and the storm outside were the only noises, and after a moment of tense staring, Aelin simply walked over to the couch and grabbed a random book, flipping it open to a random page, and refusing to acknowledge what just happened.

She didn’t look up but she heard Rowan make his way back to the kitchen, back to the previously neglected food. After another minute or so, she heard him fiddling with a little battery powered CD player they had in the cabin for occasions like this. Generic Christmas music soon filled the room.

Aelin clenched her jaw, knowing what song this particular CD likely held, but didn’t say anything, wanting to have the music mask the silence as much as he seemed to.

“Thank you,” she managed to mutter tightly as he placed a bowl of pasta in front of her, before he went back to sit at the bar, avoiding her presence.

_ Fine. _ She didn’t want to be around him either.

——-

The first two notes of the next song signaled the even more disastrous turn of the evening, the too joyous sounds sending Aelin into a fit of nerves.

Gods. Why did it still affect her so much?

“Can you please skip this song?” She said quietly, knowing Rowan could still hear her from across the room. He would likely question her request, but she didn’t want to risk anything.

Instead, he just ignored her, and the song continued.

_ Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock… _

Her stomach roiled slightly and she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and keep the darkness at bay. She would be fine. She would stay calm.

Aelin clenched her eyes shut.

“Rowan,” she insisted, trying to make him hear the plea in her voice. He didn’t pick up on it.

“What, you don’t like this song?” He said a little mockingly, still facing away from her.

_ Now the jingle hop has begun… _

“Please?” She gritted out, eyes still shut, focusing on her breathing to ignore the nausea rising in her stomach.

Rowan, being the asshole he was, just reached over and turned the volume up. Now the crooning voice was even louder in her ears, ringing into her brain.  _ Blaring headlights. The steady beeping of a machine. Unbearable pain shooting down her spine. _

_ Dancin and prancin in Jingle Bell Square… _

Aelin set her book down and quickly ran over to the CD player, desperate to turn the awful noise off. Rowan grabbed it and danced out of her reach, smile almost a little teasing this time, but his expression faltered at the sight of hers.

Gods she was about to throw up.

_ Jingle bell time is a swell time… _

_ To go glidin in a  _

The music cut off there in her head, giving way to a faint haze. Sam never made it past that part of the song. Her parents never made it past that part of the song.

Aelin felt her stomach convulse, and she ran to the bathroom, barely making it before heaving up her guts into the toilet.

“Aelin!” came Rowan’s alarmed voice from behind her, but she ignored it, too distracted by the throw up and the tears streaming down from her face.

She gasped for air as she heard Rowan kneel down next to her. 

Phantom pain raced down her spine, but not lower, into her legs, never lower. The pain stopped at her waist and then disappeared, like the feeling hadn’t been there to begin with.

The thought only made her cry harder, and soon her vision became too blurry to focus on anything but the clear rancid smell of the puke and the fainter smell of pine and snow, radiating from the person next to her on the floor.

She naturally gravitated toward him, something about the smell comforting.

All she said was “I hate that fucking song,” before collapsing sideways, resting her head against the wall.

“I’m sorry,” Rowan said, clearly still confused.

“It’s not your fault,” she said exhaustedly, “you didn’t know.” Her feud with him suddenly seemed pointless. Why did she need to be so angry with him when her life had already been ruined years ago?

“Do you want to know why I dropped out of college?” He said softly a few moments later. Aelin looked back at him in surprise. When she met his eyes and found them to be completely sincere, she turned to rest her whole body against the wall and faced him.

“As you know, I stayed in Terrasen for school, with Aedion.” She nodded slightly, wiping away her tears, and he took that as a sign to continue. “Well, freshman year I met this girl named Lyria. She was in my General History class just to get the credit and I wanted to know her the first time I saw her.” 

The devastation was clear in his eyes, and Aelin reached out a hand to hold his, surprising herself.

“She was quiet, and absolutely beautiful, and when I finally got the nerve to go up and talk to her, she asked me on a date without saying anything else,” he chuckled a little, looking back fondly at the memory, “we were serious pretty early on and two years later we were sharing an apartment and finishing up college together, planning our lives out for after we both graduated.”

His voice tightened toward the end and she knew there was something bad coming.

“Now, junior year, I wasn’t home very much. I was taking way too many classes and accepting all internships or studies that were offered to me, so obsessed with building up my resume that I didn’t see that what I was doing was hurting her.” Tears sprang to his eyes and he frowned, clearly not eager to continue, but he took in a deep breath and did. Aelin just squeezed his hand tighter. “That night, I was still on campus, finishing up a project that I had unnecessarily signed up to do. Lyria was at home, waiting up for me. As I was leaving, I got a text from her saying that she had heard someone in the apartment. I raced home, breaking about twenty traffic laws, desperate to get to her. But I was too late.” His voice descended into a whisper, “she was dying as I walked through the door, the killer having gotten away scot free through one of the back windows. I found out a few days later that she had been pregnant.”

_ Gods,  _ Aelin thought. She couldn’t imagine the pain. She had been through her own personal bell, but losing a  _ child. _ That was unimaginable.

“After that, I don’t know, I just couldn’t stay. Couldn’t bear to live in that apartment, walk the same path to campus that I had with her, have my classes and degree be a constant reminder that if I had left a little earlier, hadn’t stayed there for that stupid project, then she might still be alive.” Tears were streaming down both of their faces now, hands still connected as they sat on the bathroom floor.

Aelin took a deep breath, voice shuddering. It was her turn. Her turn to share the depth of her trauma.

“After you and Aedion left, my senior year of high school, it was just me and Lysandra around, not too much excitement, but I did have Sam, as you know,” her voice shook but she pressed on, “well anyway, my parents absolutely adored him, so we spent a lot of time with them, which should’ve been weird but was actually pretty normal. That night in December, the four of us had gone out to dinner, and on our way back home, we were jamming out to Christmas music, singing loudly, all excited for the season.” She let out a little sob, and Rowan squeezed her hand in comfort, “that song was playing when another car hit us head on.”

Rowan’s eyes went a little wide.

“It was terrifying. I honestly don’t even remember what happened after the impact, and I don’t think I ever will, but I clearly remember waking up in the hospital the next morning, finding out that I was the only one left,” she shook her head at the memory of the pain she had felt, “I had tried to get up out of the hospital bed, to go run and try and find my parents and Sam, even though I had been told they were gone, but then I realized I couldn’t move my legs. I couldn’t  _ feel  _ my legs.”

She looked up and at him then, meeting his eyes.

“It was awful. I could see and touch my legs, but I couldn’t feel them or move them even an inch. I thought I was going crazy,” she laughed a little, humorlessly, “it took  _ six months  _ for the feeling to return, six months before the doctors finally figured out what surgery could help, six months afterward where I had to learn how to walk again. I never felt so helpless. I started college late, not wanting to go in a wheelchair, and I knew that I had to get out of Orynth. Out of Terrasen. I couldn’t stay there, with all of the memories. I felt bad about leaving Lysandra, she had really been the only one there for me for the whole recovery time, but she understood. She didn’t hold it against me. But I held it against myself. That’s why I stayed in Rifthold after college, that’s why I work myself practically to death, why I rarely come home. It’s all too much.” 

Tears were spilling in a rapid stream now, momentarily distracting from her still nauseous stomach. She met Rowan’s gaze again and found him to be looking at her with a new sense of understanding. They both had pain, both had their lives forever changed from the pain, it seemed like they were more similar than they thought.

“I don’t know how to find my way back,” she whispered. He smiled a little bit, a sad smile.

“Maybe we can find the way back together,” he replied. Aelin looked down at where their hands were still connected, and then back up at him. She nodded a little.

“Okay.”


	8. Chapter 8

After their talk, the evening slipped back into it’s previous silence, but Rowan decided that this silence was much more peaceful than before. No tense staredowns, no glares, certainly no slapping. The red on his face had faded long ago, but he was still shocked. Shocked that she had done that, shocked at himself for being harsh enough to provoke the attack.

He was certainly kicking himself now. Rowan didn’t remember exactly what he had said, but he was sure it was uncalled for, especially now that he knew what had happened to her. It always confused him why she had moved to Adarlan alone, why Lysandra and Aedion were always cagey about talking about her, why Aedion barely talked about how his aunt and uncle, Aelin’s parents, had passed. Her words certainly cleared things up, but it just made him feel worse.

How long had he gone thinking she was a horrible person? Selfish, spoiled, not worth the loving friends she had? But maybe that was just a projection of his feelings toward himself.

It was impossible to know, but he did know that he had to be better. Needed to take this opportunity to be better. After all, he had told Aelin about Lyria, most likely changing all of her preconceptions about him, so maybe they could be better together. Rowan hoped so.

A yawn from the other side of the couch drew his attention. It was still snowing fairly heavily outside, so the power hadn’t come back on, and they were both huddling in front of the fire under several blankets to stay warm. It hadn’t affected him as much earlier, but after several hours of the cold permeating the room, it was hard to stay comfortable without practically smothering himself with fabric.

Rowan gazed over at the source of the yawn, and saw Aelin trying not to fall asleep. Her book laid abandoned next to her, and her eyes were fluttering closed. He chuckled slightly, and she shot her eyes open, as if trying to pretend she was still fully awake.

“We can go to sleep if you want,” he said. She hesitated, but glanced at the clock and her eyes widened when she saw the time, which sealed the deal. It  _ was  _ rather late. When he said she could take the couch and he could take the floor she looked like she was going to protest, but she just nodded sleepily and he set down the puzzle book he had been fiddling with, standing up to go grab a few pillows and comforters from the two bedrooms. It was too cold to sleep in there, but they could make makeshift beds in front of the fire.

When he got back, Aelin was already asleep again, having stretched out to lay down on the couch. A smile teased his lips. Strange, how a few hours ago the sight would’ve caused a pit of annoyance in his stomach, but now, looking at her loosely braided golden hair fluttering in front of her mouth as she breathed and her delicate eyelashes and rosy cheeks, a different feeling arose.

It was crazy how much of an effect ten minutes could have on his perspective of a person, but he couldn’t help feeling like he understood Aelin Galathynius much better than before. And it didn’t scare him.

Warmth filled his chest as he laid down under the blankets on the floor, only feet away from her.

\------

When Rowan woke up the next morning, eased into the waking world by the soft morning light, his head was tilted toward the couch, and he smiled again. Apparently some time in the night, Aelin had turned onto her stomach, a hand dropping off the side, and he had stretched out a hand of his own, as if reaching for her. Now they were separated by mere inches, fingertips ghosting the other’s.

He was reluctant to move, cozy under the blankets, but after a few minutes, he slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the other hand.

If the actual sunlight streaming in was any indication, the storm had stopped and the roads would be opening soon.

It would be time to go back to the hotel.

A sigh came from next to him, and he looked over to see Aelin slowly opening her eyes, squinting and pushing herself up, moving her hand away from his in the process. He was surprised to find himself disappointed.

“Good morning,” she muttered sleepily, and he grunted a greeting in response, “The snow stopped,” she continued, looking out the window to the front of the cabin, “and the fire’s out,” she grumbled. 

It was still extremely cold in there. Despite it being daytime now, the below freezing temperatures still persisted; and overnight, the fire had burnt out, leaving them both shivering.

“Here, let me check the weather update,” he said, grabbing his phone from where he had dropped it nearby. He needed to get to somewhere with power soon, it was almost dead. “The main road back to the hotel is open again,” he said, sighing with relief and a bit of disappointment. He liked being shut up in their own little world for a time. When they got back down, they would be reentering reality, and this  _ thing  _ between them may not last.

Rowan shook his head. He wasn’t thinking practically. There was nothing between them, and there couldn’t ever be. He wouldn’t risk anything again after Lyria, didn’t deserve any new chance; plus he had hated her less than twenty four hours ago so this rapid switch wasn’t even possible.

He was just tired. That was all.

——-

Rowan offered to drive them back down, and now he was in the driver's seat of Lysandra’s car, Aelin in the passenger side next to him fiddling with the music.

“Thank you for sharing last night,” she said quietly a few minutes into their journey, “and thank you for not pitying me.” Out of the corner of his eyes he caught her shaking her head slightly, and he knew that that must be something important to her.

“I would never pity you,” he said, trying not to be harsh but being honest, “yes, what you went through was horrible, but you came out stronger on the other side. That’s nothing to be ashamed of or pitied for.”

He was surprised at how true the statement was. Maybe it was natural from an outside perspective to pity someone inside, never wanting to picture themselves in a situation like that, but he was on the inside of his own horror, and from experience he knew that Aelin was strong. Certainly stronger than him.

He had let himself sink into his grief, ran away to try and escape its hold, and maybe she had too, but she was doing a much better job of getting a hold of her life, no matter what she tried to say. She was successful, confident, and maybe she wasn’t as happy as she could be, but she still found the joy in life, instinctually sought it out like a moth drawn to a flame. She created joy too, with her bright laugh and wide smile, and he couldn’t help but feel he was about to be sucked into her orbit, gravity pulling him in without any hope of resistance. Not like he would try anyway, he knew he would enjoy revolving around her.

He chuckled, trying to bring the conversation back to something lighter. “How much do you think Lysandra is going to fuss over us?” He said, earning a snort from her.

“Way too much. She’s a mother hen beneath all her sass,” she replied, a true smile on her face. It was clear how much she cared about her best friend, and he knew how wrong it was for him to have accused her of being the dead weight in their friendship.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly, “about everything I said yesterday, and the other night. That was unfair of me to make judgements.” Rowan kept his eyes on the road in front of him, too afraid to see the rejection in her eyes. He could apologize, but did he deserve her forgiveness? Not really.

“I’m sorry too,” she said, sincerity clear in her eyes as he dared a glance over, “I think we both assumed the worst about the other and we just stuck with that opinion instead of actually putting in the effort to know them.”

Rowan considered that for a moment and conceded a nod. “I think you’re right. But I’d like to know you better.”

Aelin smiled. “Me too.”

And that was that.

The rest of the ride home was spent with stupid get to know you questions. Turns out her favorite color was red, while his was green. She’d always wanted to be an architect, to follow in her parents footsteps. He’d wanted to be a football player when he was younger, but decided to go a more academic route instead.

Apparently she liked her job in Rifthold, but sometimes it was a little much. There was always another responsibility, another project, keeping her busy and away from her friends and family. Which tracked with what Lysandra had been complaining about the other day.

He could tell there was something she was holding back, though, too. A tightness in her expression that appeared every time she mentioned her company, and the people who worked with her. It was a story that she hadn’t told him yet, but he would do everything he could to make sure she could trust him enough should she choose to.

“Would you ever consider moving back here, taking back your spot in your parents company?” He asked her, curious.

“I’d like to think so, but you know, that’s a big change - quitting my job, finding a new apartment here, moving all of my stuff across the continent - it’s easier where I am,” she said, voice a little tight. He could tell she was deflecting a little bit, understandably still uncomfortable with Orynth, but he didn’t push it.

“Well,” he said instead, “I think wherever you choose to work, you’re probably amazing at your job.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, and if he didn’t know better, he would think she was blushing slightly, but he was sure that was the cold weather.

Ten minutes later he was pulling into the hotel parking lot, avoiding the piles of snow presumably made by a snow plow earlier that morning.

They didn’t say much as they left the car and walked quickly toward the inviting warmth of the lobby. And right when they passed through the doors, they were greeted by Lysandra, who looked like she was waiting for them nervously.

“Aelin!” She said, relief in her voice as she ran up and hugged her tightly. Aelin sank into the embrace. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think it was supposed to storm, but you know Orynth, it’s unpredictable.”

“It’s fine, Lys,” Aelin responded, stepping back, “it was kind of nice, actually, you know how I like the cabin.” Lysandra raised her brows, shooting him a glance and then flicking her gaze back to Aelin, as if expecting her to say something else.

But then she smiled a little secretively and grabbed Aelin’s hand, pulling her, and Rowan followed behind them, not sure what else to do.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said, dragging Aelin toward the back of the large lobby, “so I know you haven’t seen most of the people coming to the wedding in like ten years, so I invited a couple of others to make you feel more comfortable this week.”

Aelin furrowed her brows, looking confused, but then her face paled and her eyes widened as she turned the corner and laid eyes on something he couldn’t see.

Rowan approached the pair, Aelin looking she was going to be sick again and Lysandra looking excited.

He turned his head to see what they were looking at and found two men standing there, one brunette with a stern expression, and the other with dark hair and blue eyes.

The second man gave a little wave, but the other one just stood there, looking a bit awkward and out of place.

Aelin was frozen, but she managed to open her mouth and say tensely,

“What the fuck is he doing here?”


End file.
